LGBT travelers now have a new resource when planning a trip to Seattle.
The Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA), the Seattle-area affiliate chamber of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce® (NGLCC), has launched the first Seattle-specific travel website geared toward LGBT travelers.
"Seattle is a great, welcoming and open community," said Louise Chernin, executive director at the GSBA. "There's an untapped opportunity for LGBT travelers to come and enjoy Seattle like current residents do. We're excited to showcase our city to the greater gay community."
Visitors to Travel Gay Seattle can book flights to Seattle using a simple form, find gay-friendly hotels by neighborhood, and discover where to go and what to do when they arrive in Seattle by browsing through the site's lists of LGBT-owned and gay-friendly businesses.
Also on the website is a travel blog, which offers insight on the Seattle area, reviews of local establishments, photos and other helpful tips for visitors.
Because travel plans are booked online now more than ever, Travel Gay Seattle was an obvious next step for increasing tourism to the city, officials said.
"Nearly 60 percent of gay and lesbian travelers already book the majority of their online travel arrangements directly on hotel or airline micro-sites," said Jerome Bader, director of marketing at the GSBA. "Travel Gay Seattle is a one-stop online shopping destination for travel planning."
With the support of grants from the City of Seattle's Office of Economic Development, along with the help of the regional network of transit resources, Sound Transit, and a partnership with a Seattle-based airline, the GSBA was able to launch the Travel Gay Seattle site May 5.
The state of Washington recently announced that it will be providing the Travel Gay Seattle site with a $50,000 grant that the GSBA will use to develop an iPhone application, increasing the range of the site, and widen regional partnerships using Seattle as a portal to the rest of the Northwest region.
"It was great to see our state take the initiative on what could potentially be a great way for the state to earn revenue," Bader said.
According to the most recent annual Community Marketing Inc. Gay & Lesbian Tourism Report, Seattle was one of the top 10 most-visited destinations for LGBT travelers. LGBT travel is an $84 billion business worldwide.
"Seattle is an amazing place to visit, and it's really exciting to tell that story on a national level," Bader said. "It's a really exciting beginning to what I think is going to be a very long-term benefit to this region."
